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9 December 2011

12 Days of Advertising - Day 3

Day Three: Kaleb Francis, Marque Creative (Don't forget that just by commenting on this post you are in the draw to win an awesome pair of Puma kicks!) Our next guest contributor for the 12 Days of Ads series is Kaleb Francis. Kaleb is a senior account manager at Marque Creative. He has seven years experience in New Zealand; and in the last couple of years worked in the UK for Salter Baxter and Interbrand (London). His main areas of interest are brand strategy and social media. Kaleb puts together Marque Creative's Friday Top Five which is a must read compilation on the best on branding and marketing. On top of agreeing to be one of the 12 Days contributors, he also has given me some great guidance to improve The Envy Collection. Needless to say I definitely owe him a beer or two! The Best of 2011... Nicole: What was your favorite advertising campaign for 2011?Kaleb: The Smirnoff Night Project was part of the global Smirnoff “Be There” campaign – that recognised that their customers didn’t want experiences that were ordinary.This project encouraged people to be creative, to think without limitations. A Facebook page was set up where contestants could upload a video of their dream party. Four contestants were rewarded by having their idea brought to life where they could share it with people.

The experiential part of the campaign provided footage for a 4-part TV series which aired on the newly launch FOUR channel. Content was provided (free) to the broadcaster. Why was this Genius? – in the age where we fast forward through ad’s or switch off to push marketing – this gave the brand a unique TV experience.

Nicole: Why was this your pick?Where this campaign did especially well is that it answered the Smirnoff USP (unique selling proposition) of being ‘clearly original’ and that while it advertised Smirnoff it didn’t do it in an overt way.

Smirnoff was ahead of the curve in NZ in that the current trend for brands is to give more than what is expected. In asking consumers what makes them happy or rather what gives them enjoyment, Smirnoff was able to break through the walls of traditional B2C interaction by creating two-way interaction.

“The initiative was designed to promote original thought without too many limitations or restrictions and it has certainly delivered,”

A personalised experience will always run deeper than a price driven campaign, meaning that the decision at the point of purchase will be predicated on loyalty not price.

Nicole: Some photos of the first event episode - the ultimate shark movie - watched in the water in the dark! Other winning ideas included a hospital of horrors, a gig in the middle of nowhere and a completely white party.

Nicole: Kaleb wasn't the only person with high praise for the Smirnoff Night Project - The Dominion Post's Erica Thompson wrote: “While it could have been perceived as an elaborate marketing exercise, the result is actually a well produced and highly entertaining showcase of Kiwi creativity”. Admedia reported that Four's viewership jumped by 38,000 viewers on the programme's debut! Trends for 2012 Nicole: What do you expect to see more of in 2012?1. Cashless payments will increaseGlobally I think financial institutions will continue to test contactless payment technology leading to a cashless society within the next few years.2. Brand transparencyAn Edelman Trust Barometer study from 2010 said “87% of UK consumers expect companies to consider societal interests equal to business interests.” Gen Y supports a philosophy of generosity not greed therefore the brands that lower the walls between themselves and the consumer will be rewarded with greater brand loyalty.With that in mind I think New Zealand brands will embrace the idea of trying to understand what their audience really want beyond the tangible experience of the product.Nicole: more on this can be read on Kaleb's post "Why you need to train your brand to be social" it contains some interesting statistics on where consumer place their trust nowadays and some good insights on how to do social right. Nicole: What do you expect (or hope to) see less of in 2012?While online corporate screw-ups can be entertaining to watch (if you’re not directly involved), my hope is that we won’t see New Zealand companies making the same social media mistakes that Qantas have.Ultimately successful use of social media comes down to aligning internal and external values. If they’d been aligned and implemented correctly I doubt people would have complained as much as they did when Qantas ran a competition on Twitter asking people to tweet their “dream luxury in-flight experience”.In Qantas’s case social media should be ‘run before you can fly'! Nicole: With bad publicity circling around Qantas throughout 2011 it's little wonder that this competition turned against them! A good lesson in what can go wrong when brands try to control social media.